Rainbow Six Siege’s Post-Launch DLC Plan Revealed

Ubisoft may be joining EA in the bucking of a trend which has become commonplace with video games as of late: paid DLC. That’s right, Ubisoft may also be doing away with paid DLC for their upcoming shooter, Rainbow Six Siege.

Ubisoft has detailed a pretty lengthy post-launch support plan for Rainbow Six Siege that’s set to last at least one year after the launch of the game this December. What’s more, all of the game’s DLC will essentially be free, at least when new maps are concerned.

The company is opting for a “no paywall” model with the game’s DLC release, where maps are given away for free and extra Operators can either be unlocked by playing the game or alternatively unlocked using real cash. Also, the first year of additional content will be divided into four seasons, each with a different theme.

So what can you expect from the first year of support for the game? Well throughout the year the game will receive four new maps, one every three months. There’ll also be eight operators coming to the game, again, presumably two every three months, as well as new weapons, modes, and more.

“Maps and modes will be free and available immediately for everyone,” Ubisoft announced. “New operators and most weapon skins can be unlocked with earned currency called Renown, or with R6 Credits… The only new content that will be available exclusively by purchase will be a small number of premium weapon skins that are purely aesthetic and have no impact on gameplay.”

For those that played the games Beta, you’ll know that Renown is the game’s experience-based currency which is earned while playing. It can be used to purchase new Operators, customise weapons, and much more. There does seem to be a slight catch, and that’s the fact that the new post-launch Operators will set players back a total of 25,000 Renown, a pretty steep price if you ask me. Ubisoft says though that it’ll take around 25 hours to unlock the new operator with Renown.

Alternatively you could purchase the new Operator for $5.

Speaking of real cash, it seems though Ubisoft want to operate under a “no paywall” model, there will be some cosmetic items which can only be purchased with R6 credits, the games premium cash-bought credit.

Either way, Ubisoft’s post-launch roadmap is a welcomed one as it doesn’t fragment the player base by offering more maps to some, which others won’t have. Much like Call of Duty where players with map packs are separated from those who do not.

“For an online, competitive multiplayer game it’s imperative that we don’t create a divide in the community or introduce ‘pay to win’ mechanics. By doing it this way, we hope to keep our community united and engaged over the long term.”